Protective edge …

Whilst young people battle on the streets of East Jerusalem with the Israeli Occupation Forces many questions are starting to be asked about the Palestinian leadership over the last twenty years. Who has been protecting whom over these years?

Some sort of an answer is alluded to on various websites which are reporting that the Abbas family were sneaked out of the West Bank earlier in the week to Jordon. At the same time Mohammed Shehada has increased the personal security surrounding President Abbas.

Endless questions emerge about the role of the Palestinian Authority, especially since 2006 … Wheeling and dealing has always been common knowledge but in the context of mass muder in gaza, all these intrigues are now looked at in a new light. The attack on the Un school in gaza yesterday focused much thought …

This is the third seige on Gaza since 2009. The enforced closure of Gaza has meant endless suffering for people in that narrow strip of land. Some are asking the difference between dying from Israeli bombs and dying from the closure where water and basic medicines cannot be obtained. Yet they have kept going and they have built after each assault on schools, hospitals and clinics.

John Kerry, now in Cairo, is reported to be saying he will “talk” with the PA leader. But what is there to talk about? The blockade of Gaza has to be lifted before anything of consequence can be discussed, surely. All this is going on behind the scenes whilst Palestinian demonstrators are being shot at Qalandia.

If the international community is serious about ending the violence then the root cause of that violence has to be removed and the occupation ended at the same time as the blockade of Gaza is lifted. Palestinians simply wanted to live as any other people.

End the closure, pull out the Israeli army and dismantle the checkpoints and apartheid wall. Peace is that simple.

SOLUTION?

Why when it comes to a solution do diplomats look towards the Palestinians? The Palestinians are not steeling land. The Palestinians are not setting up checkpoints and setting up settlements in downtown Tel aviv. It is Israel who are in a position to bring about a solution. It is Israel who are in a position to end the occupation. But for some reason none of the “brokers” of peace confront Israel. So the problem is not just that the occupations continues, the closure of Gaza continues. It is the cowardice and complete complicity of the international community, which falls behind the US that continues the violence.

At some point, it will be international civil society that moves beyond the suits. It will be the growing support for Palestinian freedom that will step up to the mark. Today we are seeing huge demonstrations in Berlin. We have seen battles in London and Paris. Ordinary people want justice for Palestine. No one thinks the Palestinian cause can be put off any longer. Israel not only has to be opposed; there has to be a coordinated effort amongst professions to get their leaders to the Hague. At one point or another, individuals like Livni will answer for their murders.

The task for right-minded people everywhere now is to step up the boycott, step up the call for sanctions …

A WAR?

I am also sick of hearing the massacre being described as a war. A war suggests some sort of conflict based on two armies that are roughly equal. If the Palestinians had anything like the same military power as the Israelis we would see Israel showing its true colours.

Israeli politics are based on the Israeli state being backed unconditionally by Washington. The idea that John kerry can jump on and off planes announcing that he is looking for peace is a crazy claim. If the Obama team want peace then they have to stand up to Israel. Right now it looks like American foreign policy comes out of Tel Aviv … And they call themselves a super power.

Israel has to pull out of Gaza and call an end to the closure. This is a minimal demand but it would be a move in the right direction …